Aruca Xst

The commercial took shots at our TSX....I guess Buick is drastically changing their target demographic. A brand that use to cater to the older crowd is now competing in the younger segment.

krblgc

yeah..funny though...they also have one for the Lexus against the enclave.

Aruca Xst

LOL I don't see how they can compete with Lexus let alone Acura.

MrOtocinclus

Yeah, I thought it was an Acura commercial at first... I was like "oooh, PWP" and then it became "WTF?!"

Nexson

saw it tonight, lol

tsx isn't much to brag about anyways

ed_423

link?? i cant find it

HondaOnWORKS

Buick is a joke company, and the Regal is a shitbox. Don't get me wrong, I like American cars, but I just don't like Buick.

(New school and Old school) Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers, Vettes, Vipers<3

Buick should not be trying to out do Acura when they are the company that is known to make cars no one likes. Its just even more funny they are trying to out do Lexus.

Next thing we know, they are gonna be so confident they will diss BMW and Mercedes Benz in their commercials ^_^

Rocket_man

Well Buick may historically appeal to a different demographic but I'd hardly call Buick a car that no one likes. In Nov combined LaCrosse and Regal sales out sold combined TL and TSX sales. So if Buick is the car no one likes, Acura must be the car 'fewer than no one' likes.

Nov 2010
Buick LaCrosse - 4070
Buick Regal - 1979
Acura TL - 2431
Acura TSX - 2589

The cars compare well on features, Buick even having some features Acura does not. The styling is certainly different. But in fact they outsell Acura in combined sales. This does not include the older Lucerne which sold an additional 1866 cars.

I may not be a fan of Buick either, but facts are facts. If sales are an indication of what cars people like, more people like Buicks than Acura.

KeithL

For a giggle I took out the Regal Trubo for a tes drive 2 weeks ago and will say I was impressed with the engine powertrain dynamics. The turbo was linear and there was no percieved lag. The power came on strong and the handling dynamics were anything but traditional Buick. The only thing that hurt the car was the cheap interior otherwise I would say it is a very decent competitor to the TSX. The Buick engine seemed a tad smoother and quietier, but the agility and handling made it fun to drive. The only thing Buick about this car is the name and some traditional Buick styling (hood vents) and GM cheap plastics.

Aruca Xst

Don't get me wrong Buick is definitely headed in the right direction but to go after Acura or Lexus is absurd. Your looking at two established luxury brands. The Regals main competitors should be the Sonata turbo and the soon-to-be-released Optima turbo. The new Ford Edge is absolutely amazing in terms of it's technology but we don't see them going after a luxury competitor.

Aruca Xst

The Sonata is outselling the TSX.....but they are not in the same segment. Same goes for Buick. Sounds real bias but I don't feel as if the Buick Regal deserves the "luxury" stamp yet. A car that was just recently revised being placed against a entry-level TSX is absurd. The TSX has always competed with the 1 series, A4, Volvo, and now the Infiniti G25. The Buick Regal once competed with the Mercury Sable......

nbaresejr

I could not disagree more with that statement. I was a lifelong GM buyer before purchasing the tech about a month ago. Buick has a long tradition of offering premium autos. GM destroyed Buick during the 90's and early 2000's. Buick is back strong and with its current offerings it can directly compete with Acura.

I shopped the Regal and TSX against each other and they are very very close. Features may acutally go to the buick with the ride control system. For me i decided on the tsx because of the low financing and better price. GM is not moving much on sticker on the regal because they are not staying in stock very long. with them being imported and in very low # they can do that and still make sales.

I love my TSX and very happy i made the purchase.

Aruca Xst

A fully-loaded Altima can "compete" with a TSX. But the Altima is not a luxury sedan. It competes in the mid-size sedan segment. The Regal was out of production for 7 years for a reason. Now it wakes up from the dead to compete with a entry-level luxury sedan????

fsttyms1

Before knocking it, Go sit and drive one and HONESTLY make your assumptions after that. They arent the "I Heard" company that most base their assumptions off of without actually having driven or ridden in one. The only thing absurd about anything is one thinking that they cant be compared to acura!

KeithL

People shoudl rememebr that only thing that makes the TSX a luxury car is the name plate and some options, remember this car is ther Accord everywhere else!

24boosted

If their benchmark is the TSX, then they're setting the bar pretty low. lol

Aruca Xst

I'm saying the same can be said for the new Sonata or the new Optima. C'mon the Lacrosse vs a Lexus ES. Seriously?

HondaOnWORKS

Well, #s are #s, and I can't argue with that. But I can argue that Buick is not in Acura's segment, which makes these #s irrelevant. If Buick was in Acura's segment and had these #s then sure, I will hands down agree. Buick cars are sold for less than the Acura TSX too.

Yeah, I agree. Its like the Accord. The Accord sells more than the TSX, but different segments.

Actually, the only part I disagree is the TSX competes with the 328i, C300, G25, IS250, A4. Not so much with the 1 series, because its not entry level luxury sedan. Its more of a luxury sub-compact coupe which was a segment once dominated by Acura with the RSX. Rumors has it that Acura will return to this segment in 2012.

Colin

Do they rent 'em? Is this fleet sales?

lightjak_tsx

SSFTSX

TSX is EuroAccord but EuroAccord is priced like BMW 5 series in EU when similarly equiped and horspower. EuroAccord has the highest quality and reliability ratings and has won Car of the Year awards in number of countries. Buick is just an rebadge Opel/Vauxhall which is at the bottom both financially and quality wise among all EU makers.
TSX always beats EPA figures and i bet 2011 TSX V-6 would be more efficient, refined (more quiete car), faster than turbo 6speed Buick.
You have to look at whole package.

Rocket_man

Let's not fool ourselves, Acura is not claiming to be a luxury brand (just ask Colin) and I'm sorry the TSX does not compete in the same segment with the 3-series or Merc. It sure is a target for a car like the Regal. The Regal is based on the Opel Insignia which was voted EU's 2009 Car of the Year. What year was the TSX voted Car of the Year? When was the last time any Acura was voted Car of the Year? (A: way back in 1991, the Legend, and in 2001 the MDX was Sport Utility COTY).

http://www.caroftheyear.org/winner/2009_23/coty

So the TSX just got a very minor tweak with some modest improvements, a more pedestrian front end, but nothing that is going to draw someone to the TSX that wasn't already headed there. So now the TSX will move sideways for a few years until the 3G comes out. Meanwhile cars like the Regal, with newer features will slowly grab sales until Acura caches up. Assuming they do so with the 3G in 2013. That won't be known for a few years.

If I were Acura I wouldn't be so quick to brush off the Regal and I'm sure they aren't; there is only so much they can do to respond to keep the TSX relevant. The did not take the MMC as an opportunity to make meaningful changes.

Rocket_man

Here's another interesting datapoint... Acurazine.com is arguably the top Acura forum website on the internet. I looked up some statics for the site. They only go back to 2009 to present. But the number of page views per user has declined fairly seadily over this period of time almost in half. This means that users are not coming back to the site as often as they used to, and being an on and off user of this site for 5 years that feels about right to me. The number of page views of people coming here for one page view (found somthing via google) has just about double in that same period. So more people are finding something on Google but don't stay on the site. The amount of time people stay on the site is also deminishing. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it seems one indication that there is just less excitement in Acura over time. Frequent posters and Acura 'fan boys' are the exception.

Acura.com's site sees some cyclic traffic pattern peaking in early 2010 but dropping steadily from early 2010 to present. Can't recall why this would have peaked in early 2010.

www.buick.com traffic rank has increased steadily during the same period.

www.alexa.com

Anyway, when people are interested in a product they tend to visit the web site, when they lose interest, the web site loses traffic.

fallacy

That buick still looks like an old persons car.

Aruca Xst

This is the TSX's resume
-2008 Wheels Car of the Year award winner.[22][23]
-2009 Car of the Year Finalist, Motor Trend.[24]
-Ranked best resale value in the Sedan category in CNN's "Best Resale Value Cars" article on November 29, 2006.[25]
-The Acura TSX was on Car and Driver's Ten Best list in its first three years of production (2004–2006).
-Top-Value Car of 2004 in the Category: Sedan under $35,000 from SmartMoney.com.
-It has received the "Frontal Five Star Rating" from the NHTSA's frontal crash tests.
-"Best Pick" in a Frontal Impact from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
-In November, 2004, the TSX earned Consumer Reports' "Recommended" mark; in addition they named the car "Best Overall" in tests of ---four sporty sedans.[26][27] In April 2007, the magazine rated the used TSX a "Good Bet."

This is the Regal's resume
-
-
...yea theres nothing on the table...I am not doubting the Buick's ability..but you don't come back from the dead and compete with a car from a proven luxury segment..let's be real

Aruca Xst

What relevance does this have?

Aruca Xst

Can I explain to you that Acura is Honda's upscale division. In other words, the LUXURY SEGMENT. The TSX is a ENTRY-level LUXURY sports sedan. The Mercedes C-class, Infiniti g25, BMW 328, Volvo C30, Saab 9-3, and Audi A4 are all ENTRY-LEVEL LUXURY CARS. You are twisting up fact. Honda created Acura as a prestige brand as did Toyota with Lexus. Those cars are all in the same segment so they do compete with each other.

ipatella

I don't see what the big deal is. The way I see it is that if people are gunning for you, you're doing something right. An example of this is the whole iPhone vs Android thing. There was a time when every new smartphone came out, their ads were aimed against Apple and theres a good reason why. The general consensus is that apple makes great products, just like the general consensus is that Honda/Acura/Toyota/Lexus make great cars. So IMO you shouldnt be offended or insulted but rather complimented. This is just my .

PS: I don't think anyone who just got a new TSX would look twice at a Regal going down the street.

Colin

That's one conclusion. Maybe the 'cliquish' nature of this site has something to do with driving off users. It's no secret that many of the mods are no longer H/A owners, and are highly critical of everything the brand does. They defend this behavior as their right as members, but it is atypical amongst most (if not all) of the other forums I frequent. Virtually every thread gets bogged down to the point where meaningful discussion gets sidetracked and divided into very distasteful mudslinging. How many new owners come here and are immediately put on the defensive whenever they talk about their car?

Oh, and BTW, Acura I would say that Acura is not claiming to be a tier 1 luxury brand, but they obviously feel they are 'smart' luxury so I don't think it's as 'black and white' as you make it out to be.

ressling

+1. Does anyone have a video clip?

Aruca Xst

No luck finding the videos online yet. I'm pretty sure it should be up on the official Buick channel on Youtube soon.

Craig-D

TSX is a badge-engineered Euro Accord with no upgrades to distinguish it. Granted, the Euro Accord is more upscale than the North American one, but not by much. One need only compare the interior of the TSX to that of the BMW 3 series, Mercedes C Class, Audi A4 or Lexus IS to realize it's much closer to the Regal than it is to those others.

Aruca Xst

The Lexus ES is a "badge-engineered" Toyota...the Audi A4 can be called a rebadged Volkswagen...just playing devil's advocate here.

Craig-D

The Lexus ES is based on the Camry platform, but that's all the two cars have in common. They share no sheetmetal, plus the powertrains and interior finishes are completely upgraded for the Lexus. Same with the A4. Show me a Jetta that in any way compares to an A4 inside or out. The TSX meawhile is identical to a Euro Accord. It literally is a badge-job. Other than a different grill, the only other difference is the Acura badges.

Aruca Xst

So the Acura RL is just another re-badged Honda is what your saying? Acura's flagship model that competes with the 5 series, Genesis sedan, E-class etc. is just another "badge-job?"

ed_423

thought the engine is a bit different ?

Craig-D

I thought we were talking about the TSX. What does the RL have to do with anything? That said, the RL sells a paltry 3,000 units a year - it isn't competitive with anything.

Craig-D

The Euro Accord has a choice of engines with our same 2.4L VTEC being the top of the line option.

Aruca Xst

I'm sure you know that the RL is a re-badged Honda Legend. The paltry sales does not change the fact that it competes with the likes of the 5 series and E-class. The sale numbers does not take the prestige factor out of a car. The RL is a pure luxury vehicle but with your logic it is nothing more than a re-badged Honda.

Craig-D

It is a $55k re-badged Honda Legend, and no one is fooled. There is no perceived prestige factor to the RL - which is why no one shopping in that price range is buying it. It's sales figures underscore my opinion. The market doesn't lie. Among it's many issues, It's ugly and underpowered - those traits aren't prestigious. In the $55k price range, I can't think of a single vehicle I'd buy the RL over, and I'm apparently in the majority. I will give it this: especially with the wood trim option, it's the lone Acura car with an upscale-appearing interior. A scaled down RL-like interior is really what we should be seeing in the TSX and TL instead of acres of black and silver plastic.